16 research outputs found
Integration of Indigenous knowledge in addressing climate change
No full textHousehold survey, focus group discussions, participatory rural appraisal (PRA) tools, viz, trend analyses for temperature, rainfall intensity and farming, pair wise ranking and matrix ranking to get people's perceptions and experiences on climate change in the Pokhare Khola watershed in the Middle-Hills of Nepal. Moreover, local meteorological data was analyzed to see the trend of changes in rainfall and temperature. Analyses of both Indigenous farmers' perceptions and meteorological data showed an increase of temperature with longer summers and warmer and shorter winter during the period of 1982-2007. There was a decreasing trend of rainfall over the years in an erratic and unpredictable manner. Water shortage, disease and pest infestation in crops and soil fertility loss are seen as major climate risks and hazards. Marginal and small groups of farmers are more vulnerable with low ability to cope with climate hazards due to lack of familiarity with these conditions. In order to adapt to these adverse conditions (trend of increased temperature and decreased rainfall), people's increasing tendency to apply chemical fertilizer instead of manure and practice less water demanded vegetables farming while decreasing trend of cereal farming was apparent in trend analysis of farming. The conversion of kharbari (grass production for roofing thatch and livestock feed) to barren wasteland and grass shortage caused the reduction in production of large livestock. The reduction in number of large livestock (cattle) due to fodder shortage results in less available manure and increased need for fertilizing and pesticide applications against disease, pest attacks and invasive species in crops induced loss of soil fertility for long term. The presence of mosquitoes was seen all year-round except it was only found during summer in the past
Vegetative propagation and initial growth performance of <em>Stereospermum suaveolens </em>DC., a wild tropical tree species of medicinal value
No full textVegetative propagation of Litsea monopetala, a wild tropical medicinal plant: Effects of indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) on stem cuttings
No full textVegetative propagation of Holarrhena pubescens, a wild tropical medicinal plant: effect of indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) on stem cuttings
No full textStatus, utilization, and conservation of agrobiodiversity in farms: a case study in the northwestern region of Bangladesh
No full textPerceptions and attitudes of tertiary level students towards wood and non-wood furniture and energy fuels in Bangladesh
No full textPublisher Copyright: © 2022 The Author(s)We aimed to investigate the perceptions and attitudes of tertiary level students in Bangladesh regarding wood and non-wood (fossil-based) furniture and energy fuels through a pre-tested semi-structured face-to-face interview. About 59% and 90% of students opined that wood or bamboo-based fuels and furniture can be used as a substitute for fossil fuels and non-wood furniture, respectively, while 96, 54 and 71% of students commented on storing carbon, lowering CO2 emissions, and reducing deforestation, respectively, by the use of wood and residues. This mitigation benefit of wood also depends on recycling and reusing of wooden furniture, and scientific use of wood residues (e.g., biomass gasification) and almost all students agreed with the post-use of furniture as fuels. About 78% of students showed a positive attitude to use and 72% to buy more wooden furniture compared to non-wood furniture and 78% to reuse or recycle post-use furniture. These positive attitudes toward using and buying wooden furniture and recycling wood in science students were significantly higher than those in non-science students. Our findings also show that students’ perceptions of wooden furniture and bioenergy were reflected in their positive attitudes to promote the use of these. However, peoples’ unawareness about environmental benefits of wood and bioenergy use and related policies, and post-use of wood products or recycling have been seen as the main challenges. Young generations’ positive attitudes could help society to overcome the challenges. The study concluded to incorporate environmental education along with formal education so that non-science and female students could easily perceive new ideas and conceptions at their youth stage to show positive behavior towards using wood-based products and bioenergy. The findings of this study could be applied to other regions of a similar environment in building up essential awareness and attitudes of tertiary level students towards environmental benefits and climate change mitigation.Peer reviewe
Phytosociological attributes and ecosystem services of homegardens of Maheshkhali island of Bangladesh
No full textHomegardens with diverse plants have the potential to generate ecosystem services. We investigated phytosociological attributes and ecosystem services, and thereof economic benefits, and how attributes of homegardens and socioeconomic characteristics of the households influencing the economic benefits and regulating services of homegardens of Maheshkhali Island in South-Western Bangladesh. We randomly surveyed and interviewed a total of 239 homegardens and respective households located in the hillside (67), beachside (69), and inland (103) of Maheshkhali island, and conducted three focus group discussions. Tree species diversity and tree individuals per household were significantly higher in the hillside and inland in comparison to beachside. We found 56 tree species which have a wide range of regulating services. About 31-37%, 31-46%, 31-39%, and 37-42% of tree species across the three locations provide shade, coastal protection, soil improvement, and conservation services, respectively, with more species on the beachside for coastal protection. The responses of regulating services were significantly affected by respondents’ age and gender. About 40-44% of tree species provide multiple provisioning services. These services of homegardens contributed to the household economy (income, utilization, and sale of tree biomass fuels, fruits, timber, and bamboo) and avoided CO2 emissions, which were higher in inland and hillside than the beachside, where households were relatively poor. These sale revenues and utilization values increased with the increasing size of landholdings and homegardens, tree and bamboo individuals, and species diversity, contributed to increasing income. The attributes of homegardens were also positively correlated with the harvesting of biomass fuels and avoided emissions, and had a positive contribution to total energy supply. Having a wide range of economic and ecological values, it is important to ensure the sustainability of homegardens. Authorities (e.g., Local government councils, forest department) may provide incentives such as technical advice and material support for the conservation of homegardens
People’s local knowledge of climate change in the Middle-Hills of Nepal
No full text585-595In the Pokhare Khola watershed of Dhading district in
the Middle-Hills of Nepal,
almost all farmers perceived that summers are becoming hotter and longer while
81% of interviewed farmers responded that winters are becoming warmer and
shorter. During the period of 1978 - 2008, the overall temperature has risen
about 0.20C. Summer temperatures have fluctuated, but mean winter
temperature has generally increased over this time. Meteorological data
corroborates the farmers’ perceptions. Annual and monsoon season rainfall was
highly variable over the last 30 years, with the lowest mean monsoon rainfall
(212 mm) in 1990 and the highest (646 mm) in 1999. Farmers observed that
duration of the rainy season has decreased from four to two months. The
reduction in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) production due to shorter
winters and insufficient post-monsoon rain was evident. Changes in annual
rainfall pattern and resulting water shortages also lowered the millet [Eleusine<span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:windowtext;
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none;text-underline:none">(L.) Gaertn.] production. The
appearance of advancing phenological development in trees (flowering 10 - 25
days earlier), and earlier ripening of some crops were often cited as impacts
of change in climate. Household survey and interview, group discussions,
participatory rural appraisal (PRA) tools, viz. trend analysis, and problem
ranking were conducted to gather the observations and experiences on climate change
perceived by local people. Moreover, local meteorological data was analyzed to
see the trend of changes in rainfall and temperature.
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Understanding substitution impacts of harvested wood and processing residues to mitigate climate change: A case of Chattogram, Bangladesh
No full textIn Bangladesh, the role of harvested wood (e.g. wood products and associated processing residues) to mitigate climate change is less known and often ignored. This study aims to understand the substitution impacts of harvested wood products and associated processing residues in Chattogram city area, Bangladesh. Additionally, we also explored sellers' and users' perceptions towards the use of wood biomass and associated effects, with users’ level of satisfaction with using different categories of products of wood, bamboo, steel, and plastic. The study only considered sawn wood from sawmills to the wooden furniture and building materials, and associated residues, but excluded carbon in the forest ecosystem. A survey, using three different types of pre-tested questionnaires consisting of open and close-ended questions, was carried out in 36 sawmills, 62 timber merchants, and 55 furniture manufacturers or shops, with their owners or managers in Chattogram City Corporation area, Bangladesh. We used the general displacement factors of 0.5, 0.45, 1, and 1.3 tC tC−1 for processing residues, composite wood furniture, solid wood furniture, and building materials, respectively. The amount of wood products and associated residues and their avoided emissions due to substitution were presented in m3 industry−1 year−1 and Mg industry−1 year−1. Results revealed that the highest mean annual consumptions of timber (783.95 m3 industry−1 year−1) and processing residues (196.05 m3 industry−1 year−1) were in the sawmills and the lowest (60.56 and 0.66 m3 industry−1 year−1) in the furniture manufacturers. Altogether, the processing of round logs generated 36% residues of its mass from sawmilling to furniture manufacture. Sawn wood (of sawmills and timber merchants) consumed in the building houses produced the highest annual avoided emissions (1029.51 Mg CO2 industry−1 year−1). The development of efficient products with long lifespans, in addition to factors such as forest management, emissions, waste generation, and life cycle assessments of products likely play a significant role in determining the overall impact on displacement factors. The future study should focus on developing material flow analysis integrated with a life cycle assessment approach for various products for the construction and associated sectors, thus generating a country-specific displacement factor. The perception-based study documented that wood furniture and processing residues as bioenergy were perceived as a good substitute for non-wood furniture (e.g., steel, plastic) and fossil fuels (gas, oil) and thus lowering fossil emissions as wood products were perceived as user-and-environment-friendly and attractive. However, environmental awareness of both consumers and sellers about wood and bioenergy use and forest degradation is crucial for turning them into positive from neutral perceptions
Carbon stocks of homestead forests have a mitigation potential to climate change in Bangladesh
No full text
